IV 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 61 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States 

should work with the Government of Haiti to address gender-based 

violence against women and children. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 6, 2013 

Ms. WILSON of Florida (for herself, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mrs. 

CHRISTENSEN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Ms. NORTON, 

Mr. HONDA, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. LEWIS, Mrs. 

CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MOORE, Mr. 

MORAN, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, and Mr. 

THOMPSON of Mississippi) submitted the following resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that 

the United States should work with the Government 

of Haiti to address gender-based violence against women 

and children. 

Whereas tens of thousands of women and girls have been victims of sexual or gender-based violence in Haiti, particularly in times of conflict or natural disaster; 

Whereas women’s rights groups in Haiti have witnessed dramatic increases in rates of sexual violence in many of the 

displacement camps established after the earthquake; 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HRES 61 IH 

Whereas approximately 50 percent of the victims are adolescent girls under the age of 18, with many of the cases 

involving the use of weapons, gang rape, and death 

threats for reporting the crime; 

Whereas medical providers have reported as many as 20 percent of adolescent victims of sexual violence becoming 

pregnant as a result of rape; 

Whereas inadequate financial, human, and technical resources, as well as a lack of forensic and technical expertise, have impeded the arrest and prosecution of suspects; 

Whereas members of many medical professions are insufficiently trained to attend to the special needs of victims 

of gender-based violence, whether they be children or 

adults; 

Whereas according to data from public interest law firms involved in prosecuting cases of sexual violence, significant 

gender-based barriers to justice continue to exist at all 

levels of the Haitian justice system; 

Whereas members of the police, prosecutors, and judges are 

insufficiently trained to attend to either the special needs 

of victims of gender-based violence, or the special needs 

of those individuals who are victims of other abuses such 

as forced labor, beatings, or violence; 

Whereas the special police unit to address gender-based violence within the Haitian National Police remains significantly under-resourced, rendering it practically ineffective 

to carry out its mandate; 

Whereas few mechanisms exist in Haiti to protect the rights 

of young children not living at home, such as restaveks, 

who are engaged in forced labor and especially vulnerable 

to sexual violence; 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HRES 61 IH 

Whereas the lack of physical protection discourages women 

and girls in Haiti from pursuing prosecution of perpetrators of sexual violence, for fear of reprisal or stigmatization; 

Whereas rape and other forms of gender-based violence in 

Haiti threaten the physical and psychological health of 

both the victims and their families; 

Whereas an effective, transparent, and impartial judicial system is key to the administration of justice, and the failure to ensure proper investigations and prosecutions undermines the ability to hold perpetrators accountable for 

their crimes and discourages victims from formally seeking justice; 

Whereas the Government of Haiti has undertaken efforts to 

prevent violence against women, as evidenced by its ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 

the Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence Against Women, 

and other international human rights treaties, and the 

enactment of laws and the creation of state institutions 

to promote and protect the rights of women; 

Whereas the Ministry for the Status of Women and Women’s 

Rights in Haiti has been working on a comprehensive law 

that calls for the prevention, punishment, and elimination 

of violence against women; 

Whereas the Government of Haiti has been a signatory of the 

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 

since December 29, 1994; 

Whereas the Haitian National Police and the United Nations 

Mission for Stabilization of Haiti have created special poVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:18 Feb 07, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR61.IH HR61

sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HRES 61 IH 

lice units to address sexual and other forms of genderbased violence in Haiti; 

Whereas the United Nations and donor countries, including 

the United States, continue to play a significant role in 

post-earthquake stabilization and reconstruction of Haiti; 

Whereas the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has prioritized the prevention of, and response to, gender-based violence as a priority in its work 

across all sectors and as an explicit goal of the new 

USAID Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy; 

Whereas USAID and the United States Department of State 

have been directed by Executive order of the President to 

implement a new interagency United States Strategy To 

Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally; 

Whereas in March 2009, the Inter-American Commission on 

Human Rights issued a report recognizing Haiti’s history 

of gender discrimination that fuels gender-based violence 

and gives rise to a climate of impunity; and 

Whereas in December 2010, the Inter-American Commission 

detailed steps the Government of Haiti must take to protect women and girls from increased risk of gender-based 

violence in post-earthquake Haiti: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) sympathizes with the families of women and 

3 children victimized by sexual and other forms of gen4 der-based violence in Haiti; 

5 (2) urges the treatment of the issue of violence 

6 against women and children as a priority for the 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HRES 61 IH 

1 United States Government’s humanitarian and re2 construction efforts in Haiti; 

3 (3) recognizes that the problem of gender-based 

4 violence is a surmountable one; 

5 (4) affirms that prioritizing economic opportu6 nities for Haitian women that enable them to lift 

7 themselves and their families out of poverty is a 

8 cost-effective way to help reduce gender-based vio9 lence; 

10 (5) recognizes the urgent opportunity to imple11 ment the new United States Agency for Inter12 national Development (USAID) Gender Equality 

13 and Female Empowerment Policy and United States 

14 Strategy To Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based 

15 Violence Globally and on the ground in Haiti; 

16 (6) asserts its support for the passage of Hai17 ti’s first comprehensive law on the prevention, pun18 ishment, and elimination of all forms of gender19 based violence; 

20 (7) calls on the Government of Haiti to estab21 lish urgent plans that address the needs of vulner22 able and unprotected children who are in situations 

23 of sexual exploitation, forced labor, or face sexual 

24 and domestic violence, and to take steps to imme25 diately implement those plans, in consultation with 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HRES 61 IH 

1 grassroots organizations working specifically on the 

2 protection and promotion of the rights of children; 

3 (8) calls on the Government of Haiti to take 

4 steps to implement the recommendations of the 

5 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 

6 issued in response to increased levels of sexual vio7 lence in camps for internally displaced persons on 

8 December 22, 2010, including— 

9 (A) ensuring participation and leadership 

10 of grassroots women’s groups in planning and 

11 implementing policies and practices to combat 

12 and prevent sexual violence and other forms of 

13 violence in the camps; 

14 (B) ensuring provision of comprehensive, 

15 affordable, adequate, and appropriate medical 

16 and psychological care in locations accessible to 

17 victims of sexual violence in camps for those in18 ternally displaced; 

19 (C) implementing effective security meas20 ures in displacement camps, such as providing 

21 street lighting, adequate patrolling in and 

22 around the camps, and a greater number of fe23 male security forces in police patrols in the 

24 camps and in police stations in proximity to the 

25 camps; 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HRES 61 IH 

1 (D) ensuring that public officials, such as 

2 police officers, prosecutors, and judges, respon3 sible for responding to incidents of sexual vio4 lence receive specialized training from experi5 enced Haitian and international women’s orga6 nizations with a proven track record in gender7 sensitive protection enabling them to respond 

8 adequately to complaints of sexual violence with 

9 appropriate sensitivity and in a nondiscrim10 inatory manner; and 

11 (E) maintaining effective special units 

12 within the police and the prosecutor’s office in13 vestigating cases of rape and other forms of vio14 lence against women and girls; 

15 (9) asserts its commitment to support the Hai16 tian Ministry of Women’s Affairs in its efforts to— 

17 (A) build ministry capacity and facilitate 

18 gender-based violence subcluster meetings and 

19 initiatives as it transitions over to the Govern20 ment of Haiti; 

21 (B) perform decentralized meetings, con22 sultations, and outreach to women’s movements 

23 and community groups; 

24 (C) address issues of gender-based violence 

25 country-wide, including violence in internally 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HRES 61 IH 

1 displaced person camps, rural communities, and 

2 among children; and 

3 (D) strengthen gender assessments, gender 

4 budgets, and gender planning in collaboration 

5 with other Haitian Ministries, the Haitian Par6 liament, the Haitian Administration, the United 

7 Nations, the Inter-American Commission on 

8 Human Rights, donors, and international non9 governmental organizations within the recon10 struction process; and 

11 (10) asserts its support for the Government of 

12 Haiti, especially the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, in 

13 its efforts to assess, amend, and renew its 5-year 

14 gender protection plan, which expired in October 

15 2011, which includes support for the Haitian Gov16 ernment in its efforts to accomplish the following— 

17 (A) thoroughly assess the impact of the 

18 previous 5-year protection plan, including both 

19 pre- and post-earthquake analyses and perform 

20 diversified assessments in consultation with 

21 local, regional, and national women’s groups 

22 throughout the country, that will help gather 

23 decentralized data in both urban and rural 

24 zones; 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HRES 61 IH 

1 (B) perform specialized surveys and inter2 views in a significant sampling of internally dis3 placed person camps and impoverished neigh4 borhoods with high rates of gender-based vio5 lence with victims of rape and violence, the 

6 community groups that support them, and local 

7 officials in order to fully understand the needs 

8 and recommendations of these different popu9 lations and integrate these findings into a re10 vised protection plan; 

11 (C) revise the existing Haitian protection 

12 plan based on the results of diversified and de13 centralized assessments and in direct consulta14 tion with national, regional, and local govern15 ment officials and grassroots organizations, in16 cluding women’s groups and international insti17 tutions that focus on solutions to gender-based 

18 violence; and 

19 (D) work with the Haitian Parliament and 

20 the Haitian Administration to amend, reintro21 duce, and pass into law a revised Haiti gender 

22 protection plan that reflects current post-earth23 quake realities, including the needs and rec24 ommendations of victims of gender-based vio25 lence and the community groups that support 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•HRES 61 IH 

1 them, integrates provisions for judicial and 

2 medical services for gender-based violence vic3 tims, and reflects key findings of decentralized 

4 assessments in both urban and rural zones. 

Æ 


sroberts on DSK5SPTVN1PROD with BILLS